“Great intensity in a game. Great hustle. I don’t know if you’ll ever see him walk on a baseball field, even if it’s just getting a foul ball and walking back.”

A session of interviews on UL’s preseason Media Day ends, and Monica is the last player standing in the outfield of M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field at Russo Park.

Rather than saunter back to the clubhouse like a few of teammates did, the new Cajun catcher sure enough grabs a chair — long-since abandoned — that he’d been instructed to occupy earlier and takes off sprinting as if he has a long fly ball to catch somewhere out in left.

“He’s always running, jogging, somewhere,” Harris said.

“A lot of emphasis on what he’s doing. He cares a lot about the game. It’s always good to have a player like that.”

Monica, who’ll be behind the plate again when the No. 14 Cajuns open Sun Belt Conference play with a three-game weekend series against Appalachian State starting Friday night at The Tigue, is a man of motion.

“I’ll be honest: I had a good time over there,” Monica said. “I just didn’t feel like it was for me.

“Everyone asks: ‘They went to the (College) World Series the next year; does that hurt?’ And, you know, honestly, it doesn’t.

“I made the best move for myself in my situation,” he added, “so I have no regrets.”

Monica does acknowledge, though, that things were a little awkward when Arizona played in, and won, an NCAA Regional hosted by UL.

Monica had just finished the 2016 season at Northwest Florida State College, where he hit .348 with 12 doubles, a triple, 13 homers, five steals, 45 runs scored and 48 RBIs while also throwing out 12 runners.

The Cajuns won their first Lafayette Regional game against the Wildcats, but lost the next two.

“I saw UL, and the fans were great, and I was like, ‘I can’t wait to get there,’” Monica said.

“But then I look at the (Arizona) dugout, and I played with at least 15 of those guys and I loved them all,” he added. “I had some mixed feelings about it. But no regrets.”

FOLLOWING THURMAN

At St. Paul’s, Perfect Game ranked Monica as Louisiana’s No. 3 prospect (No. 2 catcher) and the country’s No. 17 high school catcher prospect.

Before his arrival at UL later in 2016, the Atlanta Braves selected him in the 33rd round of the Major League Baseball Draft.

But he was intent on joining the Cajuns, who had a vacancy with Nick Thurman — a two-year starter — moving on after four seasons.

Monica already knew several UL players from summer-ball play — Harris, pitcher Wyatt Marks and outfielder Kennon Fontenot among them — and he let Fontenot know of his interest in joining the Cajuns coming out of junior college.

“He (Fontenot) told the coaches,” Monica said, “and it just blew up from there.”

Having Monica pick up where Thurman left off sounded like a dynamite idea for both sides.

But replacing a reliable catcher while simultaneously working with a veteran pitching staff — Marks, Gunner Leger, Evan Guillory and Dylan Moore all are experienced juniors — would challenge anyone charged with the task.

“Look,” Cajuns coach Tony Robichaux said last month, “we can’t underestimate or understate what we lost.”

Seattle signed Thurman as an undrafted free agent last year and assigned him to the Everett (Washington) AquaSox, its short-season Class A Northwest League affiliate.

He hit .267 in 44 games for the AquaSox in 2016, and re-signed with the Mariners organization this month.

It’s imperative, Robichaux said recently, for Monica to learn, like Thurman had, how “to handle each pitcher differently — not only their physical stuff, but then their makeup.”

Robichaux recalls a road trip years ago in which he heard some back-of-the-bus commotion, and one pitcher — referencing a standout Cajun pitcher from seasons gone by — could be heard telling a freshman catcher, “I’m not Hunter Moody.”

“So you have to be careful,” Robichaux said, “because how he (Monica) handles Gunner (Leger) is not how he should handle DMo (Moore) nor whoever else.”

Thurman was a master at that.

“With Thurman,” Marks said before the season started, “he knew what pitch I wanted to throw in what count or what situation.

“Thurman was my catcher for two years, and he knew me better than I knew myself. And I think Handsome will get to that point.”

Thurman and Monica are not at all identical.

But they have some similarities, including sound receiving and blocking skills.

“They’re both very, very good catchers,” Marks said.

“But Handsome’s loud and in charge, and everyone knows that, which is good. Thurm was more of a quiet catcher, but was still a big-time leader.”

“I’ve been going home (after fall ball and preseason practice), and it will be like, ‘Hey, Gunner, why does Coach Robe do this? Why this? Why this? He explains everything, and it really helps.’ ”

All of what UL’s battery does — no matter who’s on the mound — relies on a system honed over the years by Robichaux, who doubles as the Cajuns’ pitching coach.

None of it is easy for the uninitiated.

“I’ll be honest with you: It’s taken a good bit to figure out the system,” Monica said before the Cajuns opened a season in which they’re seeking their fifth straight NCAA Tournament appearance. “It’s simple, yet difficult. But Coach Robe and I, we work on it all the time.

“But the hardest thing about it has been just situations — if I call a pitch, and it’s supposed to be somewhere, and it’s a setup pitch for another pitch, but he doesn’t locate that pitch, what do I do from there?”

Having Leger’s ear with a mere shout across the living room is quite convenient.

At .216 with one double and no homers, Monica started off struggling a bit with the bat.

But proof he’s indeed has been picking up the system is in the pudding produced thus far by several Cajun pitchers.

With sophomore Nick Lee going 6.0 innings in his first 2017 start, followed by Colton Lee and Perfect Game first team preseason All-American closer Moore, UL shut out Hofstra in a two-hitter.

With Leger starting, again followed by Lee and Moore, the Cajuns blanked nationally ranked Sam Houston State on Feb. 24.

Leger, Marks and Moore combined March 3 on a six-hitter in a 3-1 win over Southern Mississippi.

And the Cajuns yielded just one run in a three-game series last weekend with St. Peter’s, including a no-hit bid by Leger broken up only by a bloop two-out single in the ninth inning of an eventual 10-0 UL win.

The Cajuns have four shutout victories this season, including two over St. Peter’s, the second of which was a two-hitter in which Harris went 5.0 innings, followed by Jevin Huval, Lee, Jack Burk and Moore.

Leger was named both Sun Belt and Louisiana Sports Writers Association Pitcher of the Week this week, and he’s won the SBC honor on back-to-back weeks.

ABOUT THE OPPONENT: Appalachian State was swept at Missouri last weekend, then won back-to-back games over North Carolina Central on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. … Leading hitters: Calev Grubbs (.283), Matt Vernon (four doubles, 10 RBI), Tyler Stroup (four doubles, three homers) … The all-time series is tied 3-3, with UL taking 2-of-3 from the Mountaineers at home last season.